Tag: L.J. Shen

I’ve said it before, but one of my absolute favorite genres is romance. Paranormal, historical, contemporary…it it has to do with love, I’m probably going to love it. It’s the genre I read most, and it’s also the genre I’ve started to write in. So, naturally, I have a ton of recommendations for good romance books.

Today’s edition of Erin’s Bookshelf features one of my latest reads, and one of my new favorites. Vicious, book one of the Sinners of Saint series by L.J. Shen, is a contemporary romance available in paperback, Ebook, and Kindle Unlimited.

Now, the rest of the Sinners of Saint series is great (there’s five total to-date), but Vicious is my favorite. The story follows Emilia LeBlanc, a young artist struggling to support herself and her sick sister in New York City. One night, while hovering over rock bottom, she has a chance encounter with Baron (Vicious) Spencer, her high school crush/nemesis. Ten years earlier, he drove her from the small California town her family had moved to when her parents found jobs working on the Spencer’s estate. Vicious claimed to hate her then, and when they are reunited, nothing appears to have changed. For Vicious, running in Emilia again presents the opportunity to settle old scores, and finally indulge his obsession with the girl who tormented his every thought when they were younger. He hates her, and she hates him, but he has to have her. The passion between them is undeniable, but their past mistakes and pain blur the line between love and hate until neither are sure where they fall.

There are three big reasons I love this book. The first is that I love a hero who is tall, dark, and a little broken. I’ve never been as big a fan of the straight-laced golden boys who don’t have any internal demons to wrestle. And man, does Vicious have some demons. Seeing how he comes to terms with them and deals with them makes me root for him that much harder, and keeps me from hating him at times (because he can be a real a-hole).

The second reason is that I like a story where the emotional stakes are as high, if not higher, than the physical stakes. There are plenty of stakes and conflicts outside of Vicious and Emilia’s relationship that keep the story engaging, but the emotional roller coaster that takes place between them is what made me finish this book in two days. There’s a realness and rawness to their inner conflicts and baggage that you don’t always see in romance, but when it’s there, it sets that book apart in a gigantic genre.

The third reason is that, in a world where women are compartmentalized as either prudes or sluts, I like a strong, quirky heroine who isn’t shy about her sexuality. Though her good-girl persona might make you think otherwise, Emilia is assertive in the bedroom, and even though Vicious is very much an alpha, she is by no means submissive. She gives as good as she gets, and is not shy about voicing her needs and demands when it comes to sexual situations (and non-sexual ones).

I could go on and on about how much I love this book, but I don’t want to give anything away. If you love romance, and want something that will keep you on the edge of your seat with a bad-ass hero and a strong-willed heroine, then go check it out for yourself, as well as the rest of the Sinners of Saint series (if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read them all for free!).